-Video: Young Buck – I Know You Want Me. All I can say is that it doesn’t deserve its own post.

-Lupe Fiasco’s Food & Liquor on pace to shift 100,000 units next week. Better than I expected. If you’re one of those “hip-hop is dead” types, do yourself and the rest of us a favor: stop complaining and go cop this album as well as Game Theory.

-Mario Etheridge (man who shot proof) found guilty on two counts.

-Play and Dana Dane teach Hip-Hop Class

-Dave Mays and Benzino’s new publication, Hip-Hop Weekly, gets a street date. Those guys are some comedians.

-Jay-Z adds a MOBO to his awards tally. But, he didn’t show up for the obvious reasons.

-Hip-Hop Caucus to protest at the White House.

The Game – Strip Club (Let’s Ride) [CD Quality]

A solid single once you get past the uninspiring title.

-Game’s radio interview right before they premiered “Let’s Ride.”
-He runs through the list of producers and collaborators on The Doctor’s Advocate which doesn’t include Dr. Dre.

-Drops a subliminal diss to Black Eyed Peas, then turns around and says that the will.i.am-produced “Compton” is his favorite track on the album

-Interesting Allhiphop.com interview with Game. Apparently, he’s still beefing with his brother. This guy really needs to switch to vegetarian.

-Again, he dodges the Dre factor tactfully in that AHH interview. Last I checked on UMG’s site, The Doctor’s Advocate was labeled “Aftermath”…Interesting.

-Oprah for President?

-Weird Al Yankovic murders Chamillionaire (on his own sh*t, that is.)

-Another teenybopper violates rap.

-Eminem expands his hu$tle.

-Speaking of Em, his divorce proceedings will now go through a mediator. Huh?

-Uncle LL will co-develop, poduce and star in a new TV series.

-DMC of Run-DMC to be honored for helping abandoned children. Who said hip-hop was all about negativity and violence.

(PSssst: Posts will be sporadic for a while, owing to Blogger’s incessant hiccups + the death of my laptop’s hard drive last week. Unless, of course, ‘Pac returns from Cuba anytime soon.)

Take a crack at these three questions for a chance to snatch this week’s CD contest. Same rules as before.

1) What’s the name of Lupe’s old group? Hint: The group disbanded after their first single failed to take off.

2) Former B.I.G. manager Mark Pitts helped bring Lupe to his current home at Atlantic. Name the three record companies that failed to put the Chicago emcee on the map.

3) What was the main thing Lupe said he wanted to have on his contract? (e.g. full ownership of his masters; an expensive Porshe; a $500,000 rolex, access to Mya’s phone number, etc)

What better way to show off bling than to paste them on Bey’s hangers?

-Video: Jim Jones – We Fly High

-The Doctor’s Advocate pushed back, as Game readies a new Scott Storch-laced single, “Let’s Ride.”

-The Jay-Z/Water For Life site is up. There, you can view photos from Jay-Z’s world tour as well as his diaries. Sample entry: I went jogging in the park and was being followed by kids in Roc-A-Wear T-shirts. They had their hats just right. The only way to tell they weren’t from New York is when they spoke,”Yay Zee you are thee best, always.”

-XXL needs a new Managing Editor. Four years of magazine managing editor experience required.

-Lupe says that the only guests on his album are Jay-Z and Jill Scott. (But you already knew that.) Watch him catch some flack for saying that he’s not ready to work with “crazy, violent, shoot-’em-up” people.

-One of my favorite producers RjD2 says “F*ck Hip-Hop” and signs to XL. (spotted via spinemagazine.com)

-If Whitney has been undergoing rehab in Cali since April, then how did she find the time to file for divorce?

-Is the KKK dispanding because hip-hop is doing a better job of degrading/killing black people than they could ever imagine? True or not, there’s an element of reality there.

-Xzibit: “Rap is a reflection of society. If society wasn’t violent, then hip-hop wouldn’t be violent.” So, the only thing going on in society is violence? F*ck outta here.

Ras Kass – Hush Baby (The Game Diss) (mp3)
Considering the fact that Ras Kass is the west coast’s last standing lyricist extraordinaire, I expected nothing short of an etherization. On the contrary, I imagine that this will horrible diss will barely deflate Game’s ego. *Keeps an eye out for 1000 Bars.*

Raekwon – Roof Top (mp3)
Now that Jay-Z has decided to swing back and takeover the game, I doubt anybody is still checking for Cuban Linx II (or Hip-Hop Is Dead for that matter). Still, it makes me smile to see Rae in top form after 12+ years in the game.

Bonus Bites:

• Elliot Ness – Temptation
• Akon – Walk Away
• Michael Jackson – Escape
• Ras Kass – Get It In
• A.G. – Hip-Hop Quotable (Produced by J Dilla)